Catégorie : Uncategorized

Sandro Gozi MEP stepped down after five successful years at the head of the organisation   The Executive Bureau of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) appointed on 3 August, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Member of the European Parliament, as President ad interim, following the departure of Sandro Gozi. Prior to this nomination, Domènec Ruiz Devesa held the position of Vice-President of the UEF. Under Sandro Gozi’s leadership, the UEF participated at the Conference on the Future of Europe, re-launched its collaboration with the Spinelli Group, the European Parliament’s intergroup of federalist-minded MEPs, and put forward several political actions culminating in this year’s Treaty Reform Now! campaign, collecting more than a thousand signatures from EU political leaders, elected officials, and representatives of the European Civil Society. Domènec Ruiz Devesa saluted his predecessor’s achievements: “Sandro Gozi, a true Federalist, did the utmost to improve the UEF and advance its agenda. I know our personal friendship will endure and it is my commitment to continue to cooperate with the European Parliament and the Spinelli Group.” The UEF remains committed to the advancement of a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe, notably through:The negotiations on the reform of the EU electoral law and the composition of the European Parliament after 2024, for which Domènec Ruiz Devesa and Sandro Gozi are reporting on the European Parliament’s behalf,The upcoming AFCO report calling for a Convention for the reform of the treaties,The preparation for the upcoming European elections. Background The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity since 1946. We believe that completing European political unity is required to ensure Europe’s economic prosperity and strength. The UEF calls for a European democracy where all citizens can determine the policies of a European government. The UEF promotes a federal, sovereign and democratic Europe.

Dear friends,

We are glad to announce that registrations to the next Federal Committee meeting are open. The Federal Committee will take place in Rome, from Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 November 2019.

The Federal Committee meeting will be preceded by a public event organised together with the Movimento Federalista Europeo (MFE), and The Spinelli Group, in the late afternoon of Friday 22 November, to which you are invited to participate.Both the draft agenda of the Federal Committee meeting and the program of the public event will be available in September.Meanwhile, we invite you to register and book your flights and accommodation as soon as possible.

The FC meeting is open to members and observers. Please register and transfer the participation contribution as soon as possible and, in any case, by Friday 25 October 2019. You can register to the Federal Committee meeting by following this link.

RESOLUTIONS
Deadline for proposals for resolutions will be communicated after the Bureau meeting on 14 September. 
Meanwhile, we encourage the chairs of the Political Commission and FC members intending to submit a draft resolution, to share ideas and drafts well in advance of the official deadline on the FC email listfc@federalists.eu and take into account comments received from other FC members when submitting an official draft. Collective preparation will facilitate discussions and finalisation of documents at the meeting itself.

PARTICIPATION CONDITIONS
The contribution to attend the Federal Committee meeting is 50€. A reduced contribution of 25€ applies to students, job seekers, and participants under 25.
The contribution is waived for local, Rome-based participants.
The participation contribution covers:
– Dinner on Saturday,
– Venue Costs
Please indicate, at the time of registration, whether you will participate to the dinner on Saturday evening.
FC members and observers should arrange for their own accommodation at their own cost.

TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT CONDITIONS
No travel reimbursement is available for this meeting.
We kindly encourage you to book your flights and accommodation as soon as possible to avoid costs higher than expected.

Should you have any further questions please get in touch with the European Secretariat or UEF Belgium here.

We look forward to seeing you in Rome!

« L’Europe, cela se décide non seulement dans le triangle des Bermudes entre la Commission, le Conseil des Ministres et le Parlement. L’Europe se décide également en dialogue direct avec les citoyennes et les citoyens. »

Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Président du Comité européen des régions, parle de comme renforcer la démocratie européenne.

From the Monetary Union to the United States of Europe

Ventotene, Italy September 1-6, 2019

The “Altiero Spinelli” Institute for Federalist Studies has been organizing an international seminar on the island of Ventotene for the past 36 years. This island off the Italian coast is the place where Altiero Spinelli, author of the Federalist Ventotene Manifesto, was imprisoned during the Second World War. Each year, young federalists gather here to discuss federalist ideas on European and global issues with leading experts from the European and World Federalist Movement. The seminar is a unique and intensive experience on Federalist studies.

Main topics of the International seminar 2019

• Human Rights and Peace
• European Union and Regional Imbalances
• European Union and global economy
• Federalism and federalist organizations

150 participants. 60 hours of training and debates. 30 speakers.
Here we are building the future of Europe!

Download the Call for Application 2019 and apply before May 31st 2019!

REGISTER HERE

Chers Amis, Chers Membres,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à l’Assemblée Générale (AG) annuelle de notre association qui se tiendra le samedi 22 juin 2019 de 9h30 à 12h30 à la Rue du Trône 62, 1050 Bruxelles (Regione Piemonte – IoSono Bar – entrée par le Clos du Parnasse).

Au-delà des questions statutaires, nous souhaiterions que cette réunion soit aussi un moment de convivialité avec les membres et les sympathisants de l’association ainsi qu’un moment de réflexion politique sur l’Europe et sur l’action des fédéralistes européens.

Nous aurons le plaisir d’accueillir le Président du Comité européen des régions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, de 9:30 à 10:30 pour un débat politique, et le Président de l’Union des Fédéralistes Européens, Sandro Gozi de 12:00 à 12:30.

En espérant vous voir participer nombreux et nombreuses, merci de confirmer votre présence par courrier électronique (D.Rossetti.di.Valdalbero@gmail.com), téléphone ou SMS (+32.0495.53.57.95). En cas d’empêchement, merci d’avance de nous envoyer une procuration de vote par courrier électronique.

Avec nos meilleures salutations,

Domenico Rossetti di Valdalbero, Secrétaire général

Michele Ciavarini Azzi, Président

Programme de l’Assemblée Générale du 22 juin 2019

1. Débat politique introduit par M. Karl-Heinz Lambertz, Président du Comité des Régions

2. Approbation des comptes au 31.12.2018 et décharge aux administrateurs (1.1.18-31.12.18)

3. Rapport d’activité du Secrétaire général

4. Rapport politique du Président

5. Présentation des candidatures et élection du nouveau Conseil d’Administration*

6. Conclusions du Président de l’Union des Fédéralistes Européens, Sandro Gozi

7. Divers

On Sunday 26 May, the European Parliament in Brussels will host a public open-air event (from 18:00 to midnight) for everyone to share the results of the European elections 2019 and to see what the next 5 years have in store:

🔹Enjoy our open-air stage and find out about the results as they come in at Place du Luxembourg with live jazz from all over Europe.

🔹Join our mini festival of democracy on the Esplanade with debates, live commentary and analysis.

🔹Discover more on the evolution of democracy with special evening tours at the House of European History.

We will be there with the Young European Federalists and the Union of European Federalists to comment the results of elections by connecting UEF and JEF sections and discuss the federalist proposals for the new EP with citizens and politicians present on the Esplanade.

We look forward to seeing many of you there!

The European Union has been “at a critical junction” time and again since its inception. Calls for a renewed commitment to the European project have taken almost a life of their own. Back in 2014, after the Parliament had managed to elect him at the helm of the European Commission by establishing no less than a constitutional precedent, President Juncker declared his would be “the Commission of the last chance”: if it did not deliver, citizens would lose their trust in the EU. After the dismal outcome of the Brexit referendum, EU leaders convened in Bratislava to agree on a supposedly ambitious roadmap “to make a success of the EU with 27 Member States”. Three years on – Leaders’ summit after Leaders’ summit – Brexit still hasn’t happened (thankfully!) and resources, time and energy have been wasted on European Heads of State and Government unable to unite around anything more than generic commitments to the EU.

That there would even be a need to reaffirm European unity is proof that the time of national leaders is far gone. We need European solutions urgently, not least to stop more far-right and illiberal forces from rising to power. The alarms bells have been ringing for years now, but these leaders are too comfortable sitting in their own echo chamber to hear them.

EU national leaders have failed us. European integration by intergovernmental cooperation has the EU stuck in a status quo that could well be its downfall. But the history of the European Union is not only one of disappointing meetings of European leaders. The history of Europe is also one of citizens gathering, demonstrating and protesting; citizens calling on elected leaders for more decisive steps towards the political unity of the European people.

In 1975, thousands gathered for a demonstration in Rome calling for the direct elections of the European Parliament, which then took place in 1979. On the occasion of the first ever plenary sitting of the directly elected European Parliament, on 17 July 1979, thousands of young people demonstrated in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to ask for a European government, a European currency, and a European budget. On 25 March 2017, while EU national leaders where gathered to celebrate the 60^thanniversary of the EU Treaties, thousands took the streets in Rome to call for further European integration – for a European Federation! 

Today, simply celebrating the EU and its achievements is not enough anymore. Our continent is in dire need of common solutions underpinned by genuine European democracy. This July 1-2 in Strasbourg, at the opening plenary session of the European Parliament, we will again call on our elected representatives to choose Europe, wholeheartedly and without reservations. This July, we must take up the challenge of creating a genuine, European democracy – or risk having no democracy at all.

Programme

The programme of the Citizens’ gathering for the new European Parliament in Strasbourg includes :

Monday 1st of July

• 14:00 – 18:00: We are Europe – Citizens’ Agora: at the European Youth Centre, debates and workshops on civil society expectations from the new European Parliament for European relaunch
• 19:00 – 21:00: « A new Parliament for new Europe »: Meet new MEPs – at the Strasbourg city-hall, activists from civil society organisations and Strasbourg citizens discuss with the most federalist-minded of the newly elected MEPs on citizens priorities for the new term of the European Parliament. Followed by a reception.

Tuesday 2nd of July

• 08:00 – 10:00: Rally in front of the European Parliament: Citizens gathering for the new European Parliament

Please find full programme here.

Participation Conditions

The event is open to civil society activists officially residents in an EU member state, an EU-candidate country, a country being part of the European Economic Area.

Group participation:

If you would like to organise a bus or group travel from your country, please contact us at secretariat@federalists.eu. We can provide some financial support and make available accommodation at favorable rates. As availability is limited, we will support groups on a first-come first-served basis, so please contact us as soon as possible.

Individual participants:
For individual participants who attend all three events, we can offer accommodation at a discounted rate: 25€ fee for one night(between Monday and Tuesday) or 60€ for two nights (from Sunday to Tuesday).

Accommodation is in double rooms or in triple rooms, with other participants. The fee gives access to the three events, including coffee breaks and the reception on Monday evening. 

Transport from Brussels and Luxembourg will be provided with a bus. More information here.

As availability is limited, you should register as soon as possible. Participants are accepted on a first-come first-served basis. No travel reimbursement is available.

The fee must be transferred in advance – see bank details here:

Union of European Federalists

BNP Paribas Fortis

Agence Quartier Léopold

Place du Luxembourg 14B – 1050 Ixelles

IBAN: BE69 2100 3760 9578

SWIFT CODE: GEBABEBB

« Join the opening of the new EP »: *First Name* *Last Name* »

Venue

Monday 1st of July:

We are Europe Citizens’ Agora 14:00 – 18:00 at the European Youth Centre, 30 street Pierre de Coubertin, 67000 Strasbourg. 

« A New Parliament for new Europe » 19:00 – 21:00 at Strasbourg City Hall, 1 Parc de l’Etoile, 67076 Strasbourg 

Tuesday 2nd of July:

Rally in front of the European Parliament

Registration

The registration for the event is compulsory by 20th of June but please register as soon as possible by filling the registration form. Those travelling from Brussels and Luxembourg who wish to take the organised bus can fill in this registration form.

The « I choose Europe » initiative intends to call citizens who believe in the European unity to come out and vote, choose Europe against the European project of the nationalists, to speak up for the Europe they want for the future. The project encourages expression of choice by voting for a Stronger, Democratic, Social and Federal Europe. It also intends to call candidates and policy makers across Europe to rally around a road-map of reforms leading to such a Strong, Democratic Social and Federal Europe that can inspire the trust of the citizens and deliver on their expectations. 

Check out the Belgian candidates to the European Parliament who signed our pledge.

Full list available here.

Read the Manifesto of UEF « For a Federal Europe: Sovereign, Democratic and Social ».